Gap Widening Between Men and Women's Pay

The gap between the wages earned by woman and by men in the UK is widening according to a report from the Office for National Statistics. On average, a female full-time worker gets £97 a week less than a man. On a four week month that works out at £388 less in a female worker’s salary packet.

Pay for male workers is on the increase with the report showing that men can expect an increase of 1.8% on average. This increase will no doubt fuel the widening of the pay gap which is now the biggest that it’s been in five years. The 1.8% increase means an average weekly wage for male workers of £556. Female workers earn an average of just £459.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, who represent the majority of UK workers, said: “Years of a slow, steady progress on closing the gender pay gap has gone into reverse. Ministers should be ashamed of presiding over this latest dismal record on pay. It is not right that in Britain today the pay gap costs full-time women over £5,000 a year.”

Charlie Woodworth of the Fawcett Society, who campaign for equality between women and men in the UK on issues like pay, poverty, pensions, politics and justice commented: “Women’s incomes are being squeezed on all sides – cuts to benefits are hitting them hardest, cuts to the public sector workforce are affecting them disproportionately, and we now know they face a widening gender pay gap. These figures must act as a wake-up call for the government. Women’s position in the labour market and their wider financial security are at grave risk.”

The figures in the report also showed a worrying trend as the highest earners in the country, those who earn more than £27 an hour, saw their wages increase by 1.5% over last year. Although an increase suggests there's money in the economy, we're not sure it's flowing in the right direction.